Coal Front Group Plans $20 Million Online Media Blitz For ‘S...

The American Coalition for Clean Coal Electricity (ACCCE), (nee Americans for Balanced Energy Choices), a coal industry front group that has spent tens of millions of dollars on deceptive advertising and political activities, as well as more than $10.5 million to lobby Congress directly on behalf of dirty coal and against legislation to fight global warming and promote clean, renewable electricity .

While the group's deceptive advertising claims that the unproven technology of so-called "clean coal" can be part of the solution to global warming, Lucas stunningly refuses to admit in the CNN interview whether or not the burning of coal even contributes to global warming.

NARRATOR: Still, the industry refuses to say its plants contribute to global warming.

INTERVIEWER: Can you just answer that yes or no--If you believe that burning coal causes global warming?

JOE LUCAS (shaking head no): I don't know. I am not a scientist.

Watch the CNN video interview with Joe Lucas.

Coal Front Group Plans $20 Million Online Media Blitz For ‘Shaping Public Attitudes’

The top public relations group for the coal industry is looking to shape public attitudes online, with a $20 million media budget for Internet-based advertising alone. The American Coalition for Clean Coal Electricity (ACCCE) is on the search for a “Vice President, Paid and Digital Media” to increase the public’s “appreciation for the use of coal”:

The Vice President, Paid and Digital Media is responsible for implementing proactive digital media and traditional media placement strategies as a component of an integrated national communication program designed to 1) support coal-based electricity advocacy initiatives and 2) increase the public’s awareness of and appreciation for the use of coal to generate electricity.

This position, according to recruiting firm Korn/Ferry International, will oversee the public relations and media placement firms under contract and manage an annual media budget in excess of $20 million: more than $3 million for “digital media programs” (like the “Clean Coal Carolers” and a “Blogger Brigade“) and greater than $17 million for “media placement.”

ACCCE’s planned digital onslaught is just one component of a comprehensive, national public relations campaign to misinform the public about coal. In 2008, ACCCE spent over $45 million on its deceptive messaging, including $10.5 million to lobby Congress. The PR firm Hawthorn Group has bragged about its “grassroots campaign” for ACCCE involving “sending ‘clean coal’ branded teams to hundreds of presidential candidate events” and “giving away free t-shirts and hats emblazoned with our branding: Clean Coal.”

The Wonk Room received the job description when Korn/Ferry approached Center for American Progress Action Fund’s Associate Director for Online Advocacy, Alan Rosenblatt, about the job. Alan tells the Wonk Room:

While some may work just for money, progressives work for values. Which might explain why this headhunter was naive enough to recruit me despite the fact I work for an organization that opposes her client.

Download the Korn/Ferry job description for ACCCE’s Vice President of Paid Digital Media here.